Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Happiness - just say 'Yes'

I wrote an extensive comment, so thought it worth posting here as well. I visited Margo Kingston's Webdiary for the first time today and read the piece linked there titled Worldwide happiness - say yes, pass it on. My main objection was the statement that

We can create paradise on Earth.

And so what follows is the comment I left there...

Objection 2(a) - "Worldwide happiness is impossible now..."

"We can create paradise on Earth."

Call me a cynic - "Cynic!" - but WE most definitely can not create paradise on Earth.

Humans tend to selfishness. Yes, ask people what kind of world they want to live in and they'll say, "A happy one, bien sur!" Or, as I would suspect more likely, "One where 'I' am happy, of course!"

So if the consequence of yourself being happy was someone else being unhappy, would you take your happiness over theirs? I suspect so because, after all, you're aiming for happiness and it has to start somewhere!

I was reminded of a quote in reference to New Orleans that went something like this (my paraphrasing): "It takes a very long time, as well as a lot of organisation, planning and constant control to keep a society civilised, but only a few days for all that hard work to come crumbling down."

Why? Because all of us will ultimately be looking out for our own happiness first and foremost, particularly when we don't have the relative comforts and security enjoyed by the western world. Those comforts and security could in this age be more accurately attributed to anyone not impoverished, war-stricken or otherwise forsaken by those of us chasing happiness, whether western, eastern, northern or southern.

And so, Objection 2(a) states "Worldwide happiness is impossible now...". This objection is entirely accurate, the key word being 'worldwide'. Individual happiness is freely available for those prepared to take it, but worldwide happiness can not occur NOW. Which leads to Objection 2(b), "...or forever". This objection most definitely deserves refutation. Worldwide happiness is by no means impossible forever - but with this caveat - it will never succeed as a creation of humanity, because of human selfishness.

That all said, I didn't read your first article or the comments, or your replies to those comments, so apologies for coming in late. This is my first visit to Webdiary.